


A New Future

by StartheFoxhound



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 19:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20953472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StartheFoxhound/pseuds/StartheFoxhound
Summary: The genophage is cured.  Hope lives for the krogan.  And Mordin is alive to see it.





	A New Future

“Temperature within acceptable range. Dispersal commencing.”

Despite the fires burning around him, Mordin smiled. The shroud released the genophage cure into the atmosphere. It would spread that cure over Tuchanka. The krogan would be free from the sterility plague that had haunted them since the Krogan Rebellions. And Mordin was certain that Wrex and Eve would lead their people into a bright future.

The floor lurched. He could feel the heat of the fires burning around him. Not hurting, yet, but uncomfortably warm. The whole place was about to come crashing down around him.

_Not coming back_, Mordin had said to shepard before getting in the elevator and coming up here. There would be no surviving the coming explosion.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath. Focus on something else, anything else. “My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian. I am the very model of a scientist salarian.”

Something exploded across the room. On instinct, Mordin ducked away from it. The shroud remained standing.

His eyes opened. Mordin turned and looked back towards the elevator. The chances of making it out were slim. But doing something was better than standing here waiting to die.

Mordin hurried towards the elevator. Something else exploded. The fires grew hotter. He made it to the elevator and pressed the button to activate it. The doors opened. Mordin stepped inside.

The doors to the elevator slide closed again. No longer did he feel the uncomfortable heat from the fires on his skin. With a lurch, it started moving. Again there was nothing to do but wait, either for the elevator to reach the bottom or for the whole shroud to collapse around him.

Mordin took another deep breath, tried not to think too hard about that. Think of Wrex and Eve. The children they would have together. The future they would build. Think of Shepard. The Normandy crew. They would defeat the Reapers. Saving the krogan just the first step to saving the galaxy.

He hummed to himself, but didn’t sing any of the words this time. The elevator lurched but kept moving.

The trip seemed to stretch on forever, but Mordin knew it hadn’t actually been very long. A minute, maybe a little longer. Still the landscape of Tuchanka grew closer as the elevator neared the bottom. Maybe he would retire after all, run tests on the sea shells.

The elevator lurched to a stop. An explosion tore through it. Everything went dark.

* * *

On the edge of his consciousness, he thought he heard voices, but they sounded as if they came to him over a great distance. Everything felt just out of reach.

Mordin struggled to hold onto that. It was easy to sleep, to give back into the darkness. He wasn’t doing to do that.

There was a thud. Was something moving?

As he clawed his way towards consciousness, Mordin remembered where he was. The shroud. An explosion in the elevator. Was he dead? No. Seemed unlikely. Alive then. Still in the elevator? Nothing but darkness greeted him when he forced his eyes open. Seemed likely though. That thud could be the rest of the shroud starting to collapse around him. Not much he could do about it if it was.

His eyes slid closed, the weight of them too heavy. No point in resisting when he couldn’t see much of anything anyway. His whole body throbbed; a dull ache that sharpened as the seconds passed. Something pressed uncomfortably into his back. Debris of some kind. A piece of the elevator? Piece of the shroud? It didn’t really matter.

Something ground against something else, a scraping sound, then another thud. He strained his ears, trying to listen, but couldn’t tell for sure what it was.

Mordin’s fingers twitched. He was lying on his stomach, probably on whatever remained of the elevator floor. The floor beneath him was smoother than whatever was digging into this back at least. Maybe if he could move, crawl out from underneath this debris.

He forced his eyes open, and pushed up with his hands. Pain flared through his body. Mordin slumped back down. His eyes closed again as he fought to maintain his grip on consciousness.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed before the pain lessened, not gone, but easier to focus despite it. Something else moved above him, louder this time, closer. The weight on his back lessened. The tower wasn’t collapsing, Mordin realized. Something was moving the debris. They were digging him out!

“Wrex! Over here!”

Mordin recognized that voice. Eve!

Whatever had been pressing into his back was pulsed away and he felt hands on him, carefully rolling him over. “Mordin? Can you hear me?”

His eyes didn’t want to open, but Mordin focused them open a crack, the sun of Tuchanka almost too bright after the previous darkness. Squinting, he could make out Eve’s face leaning over him.

“Eve.” His voice sounded hoarse and far away when he said her name.

His eyes were barely open, but he thought he saw her smile. “Don’t try to move. We’re going to get you out of here.”

He heard something else walking towards them, and a moment later Wrex’s face appeared next to Eve. “He’s still alive?”

“Yes, but he needs medical attention,” Eve said.

The faces of the two krogan swam before his eyes. He gave up trying to keep his eyes open. Even their voices faded into the background. The last thing he was aware of was something carefully lifting him from the rubble and cradling him in their arms.

* * *

When Mordin opened his eyes again, he was in a bed, and Eve was sitting in a chair next to him. When she saw his eyes open, she smiled. “Mordin?”

He blinked, trying to clear away the fog of unconsciousness, and taking in his surroundings. An old building, bits of rubble missing from the walls.

“Still on Tuckanka?”

“Yes,” Eve said, “We didn’t want to move you far. You’re in an old krogan hospital. One of our doctors has been treating you.”

“Krogan doctor unlikely to have knowledge of salarian physicality,” Mordin said.

“You are his first salarian patient. But he did a good job.”

“Still alive,” Mordin agreed. His body ached despite the medication that was likely in his system. He didn’t want to try moving yet. But he was still in one piece. And he knew that he was lucky to be alive. That trip up the shroud should have been a one-way trip.

“He believes you’ll make a full recovery, but you’ll have to take it easy for a while,” Eve said. He paused for a moment before continuing. “That was brave, what you did. You almost died so that our children can live. Thank you.”

“Had to be me,” Mordin said. “Made mistakes. My responsibility to fix. Would have died to save krogan. Glad I didn’t. Can see future you and Wrex will led them to. Very promising.”

She remembered when Mordin had first told her about the work he’d done strengthening the genophage. By that time he’d already realized what the genophage was doing to her people and had been trying to fix it. Eve couldn’t hold that against him. Especially now that he’d been the one to cure it.

“You gave us that future.”

“Future not possible without you,” Mordin said. “Krogan need strong leaders. Show then new way.”

“We will.” Eve smiled. “Wrex will lead the krogan forces against the Reapers on Palaven. Soon I will travel to the Kelphic Valley to rally the krogan and spread the world that the genophage is cured.”

“Know you will do well.”

They both fell silent for a little while. Then Eve spoke again. “You asked me once what my name was before I became a shamon. I am Urdnot Bakara.”

She had told Shpard before she left Tuckanka. It only seemed right that Mordin also knew her name. “And know that you will always be a friend to the krogan people,” Eve continued, “I will make sure they know what you did for us.”

“Might still call you Eve,” Mordin said, “But thank you.”

“Call me whichever one you’d like,” Eve told him. She’d grown used to the name he had given her, and it had been a while since anyone called her Bakara. Although Wrex had started to use her old name recently.

The door to the room opened, and Wrex walked in. “Thought I’d find you here,” he said to Eve. He looked over at Mordin and saw he was awake. “You’re one tough pyjack. Not even a tower falling on you can kill you.”

“Wrex.” There was a bit a fondness in Eve’s tone but the look she gave him made it obvious she didn’t think that was funny.

“What?” Wrex glanced at her, then turned his attention back to Mordin. “It’s good to see you awake. It’s been hard to drag Eve away from this room lately. We haven’t even started working on the next generation of krogan yet.”

“Wrex,” Eve said again.

A smile crossed Mordin’s face. “Krogan very fertile with genophage cured. Shouldn’t take much.”

Wrex laughed.

* * *

Days passed. Then weeks. Mordin healed. While Wrex left for Palaven a few days after Mordin woke up, Eve stuck around, spending several hours a day at the hospital. A few times he asked her about her plans to travel to the Kelphic Valley, but she always told him that she wanted to make sure he was alright first.

As he healed, Mordin considered what he should do next. Initially, he’d planned to retire after curing the genophage, and spend whatever time left to him in a warm, sunny place. That’s what he’d told Shepard. But as he thought about it, Mordin realized he didn’t want to retire yet, not completely.

“Fine now,” he told Eve once he’d healed enough to get out of bed, and could move around on his own. “Will travel with you when you go to Kelphic Valley. Run tests. See impact of work myself.”

Eve smiled and agreed. A few days later they left together.

In the years after working on the genophage project, Mordin had always been the member of the team to return to Tuchanka and make sure it was still working. He’d needed to see it up close, to see what his work had done. It hadn’t been easy, but Mordin had looked.

And then he’d confronted his actions again on his trip to Tuchanka to find his student, Maelon. That trip forced him to look at the smaller picture, the krogan who died in horrible medical experiments searching for a cure. The big picture consisted of smaller picture. The krogan suffered because of his actions. After the Collector Mission with Shepard, Mordin decided that the krogan deserved a cure. And he would cure it.

This trip to Tuchanka was different. He didn’t see the pain and the suffering, not in the same way. This time he saw hope that the krogan could have a better future.

At first the krogan who gathered in the valley didn’t know what to make of the salarian who traveled with Eve. But she spoke to them of how he’d cured the genophage, and Mordin spoke to them as well. The krogan learned to respect him.

Over a month passed since Wrex left to help the turians fight the Reapers. Mordin sat looking over a datapad. He looked up when Eve entered the room. “Data promising. Results expected. Still, good to see.” He paused for a moment. “Would like to examine you.”

“You’ve already collected date from me,” Eve said.

Mordin nodded. “Yes. But suspect conditions have changed. Understand you and Wrex spend much time together in days before he left.”

“Oh.” Eve met his gaze. “Of course. You can examine me.”

Mordin placed his datapad on a nearby table and stood up, motioned for Eve to follow him into the next room. “Come.”

She followed him.

In the time since they arrived here, Mordin made made himself at room. The room was set up as a small clinic. There was only one bed, but he’d stocked the room with basic medical supplies. Eve knew that Mordin used it to collect date from willing krogan, and also to treat injuries and illnesses of anyone who sought his aid.

“Lie down,” Mordin instructed her. Eve sat on the edge of the bed, then pulled her legs up, and stretched out on it.

Mordin hummed under his breath as he started up a program on his omni-tool. “Is that krogan queen?” Eve asked.

“Yes. Seemed fitting.”

Eve smiled. She enjoyed listening to Mordin sing. She remembered all the times she’d asked him to sing that song in the med bay on the Normandy. Each time he said he was busy, but then sang it for her away.

“Sing it for me.”

This time he started singing it without any further prompting.

“Oh, better to die to a thresher maw, with shotgun blasting roaring raw, than to play ambassadorial games, with the blood of Shiagur in her veins. Off to fight, since turians can’t, with diplomats instead of a krantt. But she’ll be true to Tuchanka’s dream, and live and die a krogan queen.”

As he sang, Mordin ran his omni-tool over her, taking the readings that he needed. He punched a few more keys, and then studied the results. A smile spread across his face. “Congratulations, Eve.”

Her eyes widened, and she pushed herself back into a sitting position as locked eyes with him. “You mean…?”

“You’re pregnant,” Mordin said.

She couldn’t contain her grin, not that she’d want to try. One of her hands moved to rest on her stomach where her child with Wrex grew. This child was the beginning of a new era for her people, the first of hopefully many krogan who would be born in the coming years.

Mordin watched her. “Will want to monitor progress, but everything looks good.”

She’d already expressed her gratitude to Mordin many times, but knew she would never do it enough. “Thank you, Mordin.”

“Of course. Here for you.”

* * *

About a week later, Wrex came back to Tuchanka and found them. “Guess who I saw on the Citadel,” he said, not even bothering with a proper greeting. He didn’t give them enough time to respond before continuing either. “Shepard. And her clone.”

“Clone?” Mordin asked, looking up from the datapad he’d been reading.

“Yeah. Turns out when Cereburus rebuilt her they also made a clone. Then her clone turned up and tried to steal her identity.” Wrex paused for a moment. “The clone’s dead now though. Fell off the Normandy when she was trying to steal it.”

“Fascinating,” Mordin said. “Never heard of cloning technology being successful. Shouldn’t be possible. But Shepard being brought back also considered impossible. Would be interesting to learn of method Cereburus used.”

“Not like we can go up to them and ask,” Wrex said.

Mordin shrugged. “Just scientific curiosity. Shepard doing well? Besides clone, of course.”

“Yeah, she’s doing well. She’s actually planning a party right now, getting everyone together before the Crucible is finished and we can take the fight to the Reapers.”

“Excellent. Party good for moral.”

* * *

Mordin and Wrex both received invitations to Shepard’s party. They traveled to the Citadel together. The Citadel was always busy, but as they stepped out of their transport ship, Mordin noticed that it was packed with more people than it had been the last time he was here. There also were signs of a recent battle, although some work had been done to repair it. The Cereburus attack. Mordin had seen some of the news reports.

They weaved their way through the crowds of people and got a shuttle that could take them close to Shepard’s apartment. From there it was only a short walk to an elevator, and then an even shorter walk to the front door of the apartment. Wrex knocked.

The door opened and the next thing Mordin knew, Shepard was throwing her arms around him. It took a moment for Mordin to respond to that, but he brought his arms up and returned the hug.

When Shepard pulled back, she kept her hands on Mordin’s shoulders and looked him up and down as if she was checking whether he was really in one piece. “It’s good to see you, Mordin,” she said, “I got the message you sent, and Wrex told me you were alright, but I could hardly believe it until now.”

“Didn’t expect to survive,” Mordin said, although he knew Shepard already knew that. They’d last seen each other right before he took the elevator up the Shroud. He remembered the look on her face when she realized what he was going to do. “Cured genophage. Had enough time to make it back to elevator before explosion. Lucky to be alive.”

“But you are. And now you can run tests on those seashells.”

Mordin smiled. “After Reapers are defeated. Have been on Tuchanka with Eve.”

“How is she?” Shepard asked.

“Doing well,” Mordin said, “Rallying support of krogan clans. Spreading word of genophage cure.”

“Good.” Shepard’s hands were still on his shoulders and she seemed reluctant to pull away. Mordin studied her face. She looked tired; more than she had the last time he’d seen her.

Wrex spoke up beside them. “So, you going to let us in, Shepard?”

“Right, sorry.” She let go of Mordin and stepped aside so they could enter the apartment.

A few people were there already. Liara sat on the couch and Garrus was leaning against a counter in the kitchen. He looked over at them as they came in, and nodded in greeting. “Wrex, Mordin. It’s good to see you both.”

“Garrus.” Mordin walked over to him. “Good to see you too. Things going well with Shepard? Can provide more ointment if needed.”

Garrus’ mandibles twitched. “I think we’re good. Thanks.”

“No need to be embarrassed,” Mordin said. He could ask Shepard later though. She was the one who needed the ointment for the chaffing anyway.

Shepard was opening the door to let someone else in. “Shepard,” Grunt said as he came in.

“Grunt,” Wrex said, “I heard you set fire to a C-Sec car and climbed on the krogan monument.”

“Yeah,” Grunt said, “They didn’t like that much. Shepard had to come and talk to the officer. Then I had to apologize.”

Wrex laughed at that. “You told you to apologize to C-Sec?”

Grunt nodded. “Yeah. I said I wouldn’t do it again. The part about setting the car on fire anyway. I didn’t say anything about not climbing on the krogan monument.”

“I hope you aren’t planning to do that again either,” Shepard said.

“No, I’m not,” Grunt said. But he sounded disappointed.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the party guests arrived and everyone broke off into different groups. Mordin took this opportunity to approach Shepard before she started mingling with them.

“Shepard. Wanted to talk. Holding up alright?”

She started to nod and then sighed. “I’m tired. This fight has been difficult. When we fought the Collectors we knew the odds were against us. But then we all made it back. Now… I almost lost you. I did lose Thane, and Legion.”

“Heard about that. Wish they were still here.” Mordin looked down, knowing that there wasn’t really anything he could say to make it easier.

Shepard nodded. “I don’t know if this is a war we can win.”

“Believe in you, Shepard,” Mordin said. “Everyone else does too. All here for you.”

“Thank you, Mordin,” she said. She reached out, grasped him on the shoulder again, and then walked into the kitchen to see what the group in there was up to.

Mordin didn’t follow her. Instead he headed upstairs and found Wrex, Grunt, Javik, and Zaeed debating which one of the krogan would win in a fight. This debate had apparently led to Wrex and Grunt headbutting each other.

“Going to break something,” Mordin said.

“Haven’t broken anything yet,” Grunt said as he slammed his head into Wrex’s.

Wrex immediately headbutted him back. “You just don’t want to admit you’d lose.”

“I’m pure krogan. You’re the one who’s going to lose,” Grunt responded.

Mordin watched them go back and forth a few times. One time Grunt took several steps back, almost into the artwork that was hanging on the wall behind him.

“Almost hit painting that time,” Mordin informed them.

“Let them have their fun,” Zaeed said, “I want to see who wins.”

It didn’t seem likely they were going to stop anytime soon so Mordin headed back to the stairs. He passed Shepard on his way down. “Suggest you check on Wrex and Grunt,” he told her, nodding in their direction. Shepard looked over there and then hurried towards them.

Mordin continued down the stairs, and found Joker by the bar, passing by Miranda, Jacob, and EDI as they left to see what was happening in one of the other rooms. “Hey Mordin,” Joker said as he stepped into the room.

Mordin took a seat, and Joker leaned against the counter across from him. “Shepard sure has a lot of alcohol here. I think I saw a bottle of some salarian stuff if you want something.”

“Not right now.” Mordin shook his head.

“Suit yourself.” Joker pulled out a glass and a bottle, and poured something for himself. He took a drink, and then, looking around to make sure they were alone, leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. “Hey, so thanks for that information you gave me for me and EDI. It’s been helpful.”

“Excellent!” Mordin said. “Happy to help! Actually, wanted to ask about that. Little data available on relationships between synthetics and humans. EDI unique. Could provide useful information.”

“Uh-“ Joker just stared at him. “Are you asking for details about my sex life?”

“Yes.” Mordin nodded. “Have studied relationships between other species. Fascinating subject. Could learn much.”

It was at that moment that Javik chose to enter the room. Joker jumped at the chance to change the subject. “Javik! Come have a drink. I bet you haven’t tried most of these.”

Joker handed Javik a drink when the prothean took a seat at the bar next to Mordin. They were soon joined by Cortez, Garrus, Wrex, and Zaeed. Mordin let the topic about Joker and EDI’s relationship go and instead turned to Wrex. “Shepard’s furniture and artwork still intact?”

“She didn’t let us finish,” Wrex grumbled, helping himself to one of the available drinks.

The topic of conversation soon shifted to Cortez and Joker discussing whether or not Joker should keep a sidearm at his pilot seat for emergencies. “Should always be prepared,” Mordin told Joker, “Am scientist and doctor but always carry pistol.”

“Yeah, but you aren’t a normal doctor, Mordin,” Joker said, “If you ask Doctor Chawkas she probably doesn’t carry a weapon around the med bay.”

Shepard joined the conversation and also supported Cortez, so Joker agreed to do some target practice with Cortez if they were up to it the next day.

Joker might not have wanted to practice shooting things after he’d been drinking, but apparently Wrex, Javik, and Zaeed did. Once Joker, Cortez, and Garrus left to go talk to some other people, Wrex began setting up empty bottles on the bar.

“Did you bring a weapon with you?” He asked Javik, and Zaeed.

“I always carry one,” Javik told him, “In my cycle, the Reapers controlled the Citadel. We must be prepared if they decide to attack while we are partying.”

“I have my gun too,” Zaeed said.

Wrex finished setting up his line of bottles. “Let’s see who can knock the most down. Want to join us, pyjack?”

Mordin got down from his seat at the bar, since that obviously was no longer a safe place to sit. “Thought Shepard wanted apartment kept intact. Unlikely to be happy if you destroy bar.”

“We’re good shots, right guys?” Wrex said.

Javik and Zaeed nodded, both already loading their guns.

“Don’t break anything,” Mordin said, and then left the three of them to it.

He passed through the kitchen, where many of the party guests were dancing to the music. They seemed to be having a good time, but Mordin didn’t want to dance so he moved past them, and found a relatively quiet spot to relax until Shepard called everyone together to take a group picture.

After that the party was winding down, and everyone found a spot to sleep for the night, either in one of Shepard’s spare rooms, or on one of the couches. Mordin noticed that Garrus went to sleep in Shepard’s room.

Not needing as much sleep as the rest of the Normandy crew, Mordin cleared the broken bits of bottles off of the bar. Somehow Wrex, Javik, and Zaeed had managed to not break anything besides the bottles they’d been aiming at. Once he’d cleared an area off, he sat down there with one of the datapads he’d brought with him. He read for a while, stopped in the middle of the night to get his hour of sleep, and was back to reading before anyone else woke up.

After several hours of quiet, Joker slumped down next to him. “I drank way too much last night,” he said, burying his head in his arms. “My head is killing me.”

“Should have been more careful. Excess amounts of alcohol unhealthy,” Mordin said.

“Gee thanks, Mordin,” Joker said, not even raising his head to look at him.

Mordin put away his datapad and stood up. “Will be right back.”

Joker didn’t even respond as Mordin left the room and went to rummage in one of the drawers of the many bathrooms in the apartment. There wasn’t much, but he found something that might help a headache. He grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and returned to Joker.

“Here. Might help.” He sat them down in front of him.

Joker raised his head enough to see what was there and then gulped it down. “Thanks.”

Mordin left Joker and made his way back to the kitchen. Some of the others were awake. James, who Mordin didn’t know very well, was mixing up some eggs while Grunt stood and watched.

“Are those going to be ready soon?” Grunt asked. “I’m starving.”

“It’ll be a few minutes,” James told him.

The eggs were just about finished when Shepard and Garrus came out of their room. James offered them to anyone who wanted some. Garrus went around him to get some dextro food from the fridge that he and Tali could eat.

After they’d eaten breakfast, Mordin went up to Shepard. “Have something for you.” He offered her a datapad. “Collection of early works, songs, recordings. Would have been delivered to you if mission on Tuchanka went differently. Still want you to have it.”

Shepard took the datapad from him. “Thank you.” She paused, then continued. “I understand if the work you are doing with Eve is important, but there’s still a place on the Normandy for you if you’d like to come with us.”

Mordin considered that offer. He enjoyed working with Eve, but he also knew that she had everything on Tuchanka under control. The Reapers needed to be defeated.

“Will come with you,” he said, “Help defeat Reapers. Eve fine on her own.”

“I’m coming too,” Grunt spoke up from behind her.

Shepard smiled, and looked around the room at her crew. “Let’s get back to our ship.”

They said their goodbyes to everyone who wasn’t returning to the Normandy, and then followed Shepard to the docking bay.

* * *

As soon as they were back on the Normandy everything moved quickly. Shepard had information on the location of a Cereburus base, and they immediately headed out to assault it. Mordin didn’t go on that mission. Garrus and EDI did.

While they assaulted the Cereburus base, Mordin wrote a quick message to Eve, telling her that he was on the Normandy with Shepard, and planned to visit Tuchanka again after the Reapers were defeated.

Shepard, Garrus, and EDI returned from the Cereburus base with the news that they’d killed Kai Leng, and that the Reapers were launching their attack. They needed to go to Earth.

The fleets and armies of their allies came together in the battle that followed. The Alliance. The turians. The asari. The quarians and geth working together after fighting for centuries. The krogan forces on the ground. In less numbers, the elcor, hanar, and drell added their forces to the battle. Mordin felt the absence of the salarian forces, felt a brief stab of anger that they would refuse their aid because the genophage had been cured.

Not all of them though. Once they landed on Earth, and fought their way through some of the Reaper forces, they all had a chance to rest before Shepard would lead the final push to the beam. It was there that Mordin saw the small gathering of salarians. Kirrahe stood in front of them, one hand in the air, giving one of his speeches.

“You all know the mission and what’s at stake. While this may not be our world, it is our galaxy. Today, humanity has asked for our help, and today, we will deliver. In this war, we are all citizens of the cosmos. There is no enemy we cannot defeat together. No threat we cannot neutralize. No challenge we cannot overcome. Someday, when the Reapers are just a memory, the nations of the galaxy will come together, and remember this place, this very ground, and say, the salarians were here. They did not fail. They did not falter. And they did not surrender.”

Mordin waited for Kirrahe to finish giving the speech before he approached him. “Good speech. Good to see not all salarians ignoring Reaper threat.”

“Mordin Solus.” Kirrahe smiled and grasped one of Mordin’s hands. “I heard you were dead. Then other reports said you were still alive.”

“Nearly died,” Mordin said.

Kirrahe nodded. “So I heard. Curing the genophage of all things.”

“Krogan deserved cure,” Mordin said. “Made mistakes before. Had to fix.”

“I wasn’t disagreeing with you,” Kirrahe said, “We need the krogan forces here. And they wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t cured the genophage. Some of us realize that. Even if the politicians disagree.”

“Would have cured it regardless,” Mordin said.

“Did curing it help with the guilt?” Kirrahe asked.

“Yes. In part. Still caused pain, suffering, death. But krogan have new beginning now.”

Kirrahe just nodded and didn’t say anything more about it. “Did you come here with Commander Shepard?” He asked after a moment.

“Yes,” Mordin said, “Will be regrouping with Normandy Crew shortly. Stay alive, Kirrahe. Will see you again after battle.”

* * *

Shepard was almost as good at giving speeches as Kirrahe was, Mordin decided as he listened to her, the rest of the crew gathered around them. They weren’t all going to be making the push to the beam with her. Garrus and Grunt would go with Shepard while the rest of the squad returned to the Normandy. Mordin was going to do neither.

“Will stay with ground forces,” he told Shepard, after she finished her speech and everyone was getting ready to move out. “Put still as doctor to use helping injured.”

“Take care of yourself down here,” Shepard told him.

“You too, Shepard,” Mordin said.

From his position in one of the hospitals, Mordin saw the Normandy taking off. He later saw the crucible activated, and the Reapers on the ground destroyed. Everyone around him cheered.

* * *

“Shepard’s missing.” That was the first thing Wrex said to Mordin when he found him.

Mordin didn’t res pond until he finished bandaging the wound of the human soldier on the bed in front of him. Then he looked up at Wrex. “Not on Normandy?”

“The Normandy’s mission too, but Shepard wasn’t on it when the Crucible fired. She was on the Citadel with Anderson. He’s dead, but no one can find Shepard.”

“Must be on Citadel somewhere.” Which wasn’t necessarily helpful given how large the Citadel was.

“What’s left of it,” Wrex said. “The Alliance is organizing search teams. And I have my krogan keeping an eye out on the ground.”

“And you’d like me to help?” That seemed like the logical conclusion since Wrex had come to speak to him about it.

“Yeah, I thought you should know,” Wrex said, “Most of the squad is on the Normandy, wherever that is.”

“Appreciate it. Will join you.” Mordin followed Wrex from the hospital. “Normandy missing, you said?”

Wrex nodded. “Last anyone saw of them they were headed towards the mass relay to escape the explosion. The mass relays are down though and so’s long range communication. They’re out there somewhere, but there’s no way to know where.”

They made their way to a cluster of Alliance officials. “We’re here to search for Shepard,” Wrex told them.

“You’re Urdnot Wrex?” One of the soldiers asked.

“Yeah, and this is Mordin Solus. We’re Shepard’s friends.”

“Let me just clear that with my superior,” the soldier said. He had a brief conversation over a radio before he nodded at them. “You’re both cleared. You can take one of the shuttles.”

Mordin and Wrex picked their way through rubble. Everything was a mess, and even with all the search teams, it was difficult to search everywhere. All they could do was keep looking and hope that they would find her.

Hours passed. Evening came. They took a short rest, Mordin sleeping for an hour, Wrex a bit longer, and then began searching again. The more time passed, the less likely it was that they’d find Shepard alive, but neither of them voiced that concern.

It was afternoon on the second day when an Alliance soldier came hurrying towards them. “They found her!”

“Alive?” Mordin asked.

The soldier nodded. “Yes, come with me.”

He led them through the rubble. Shepard looked more like a corpse than a living person when they saw her. Her armor was barely intact, and it was obvious she was in bad shape.

Mordin hurried over, keeling down beside her so that he could access the damage. He left out a breath as he saw the raise and fall of her chest, the only sign that she was actually alive. He punched a few things into his omni-tool, and scanned Shepard.

“Damage extensive. Needs to be moved to medical facility immediately. Can’t do much here.”

Several Alliance soldiers came forward with a stretcher, and carefully shifted Shepard onto it.

“I got this,” Wrex said, nudging one of them out of the way once Shepard was on it. He picked up one end, one of the Alliance soldiers took the other. Mordin walked beside them, monitoring Shepard’s vital signs on his omni-tool.

* * *

Shepard survived, but she remained in a coma in the hospital. Mordin and Wrex visited, but also kept themselves busy. Mordin continued treating other patients, and made sure Shepard was receiving the best care possible. Wrex spent time with the krogan troops.

“I don’t like being stranded here,” Wrex said one day, sitting with Mordin in Shepard’s room. “The krogan are assisting with cleanup but they all want to go back home.”

“Destruction of mass relays problematic, but experts working on fixing them,” Mordin said. “Understand frustration though. Would like to hear from Normandy. Check on Eve. Told her I would monitor pregnancy.”

Sometimes the silence from the rest of the galaxy was troubling. Without any way to communicate with them, it was easy to imagine the worse. But there were many tech experts working on repairing everything. It may take time, but Mordin believed they would fix it.

“I do hope the mass relays are fixed before my kid is born,” Wrex said.

Mordin nodded. “Important moment. Should be there.”

“That’s months away still,” Wrex said. He looked down at Shepard, lying unmoving on the bed except for the raise and fall of her chest. “She will wake up, right?”

“She should. All indications show she is healing. Long recovery ahead though. Still, impossible to be certain. Coma’s… unpredictable at times.”

* * *

When long range communications were repaired, they finally got the news that they’d been waiting for. The Normandy had crashed on another planet a few systems away but they’d survived, everyone besides EDI who stopped responding as soon as the Crucible fired. As soon as the mass relays were repaired, they planned to come back to Earth.

News came in from the rest of the galaxy as well. The Reapers were destroyed everywhere. They could now focus on rebuilding. Eve wrote that she was doing well.

A few days later, Shepard opened her eyes. Mordin was checking on her when he noticed her eyelids flutter. He paused, watching for any other signs of movement, and after a moment she blinked, then focused on him.

“Shepard?” Mordin asked.

“Mordin.” Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. “The Reapers?”

Shepard needed rest more than she needed a long report on everything that was happening. But Mordin knew that she wanted to know, and would probably rest better if he told her the basics. “Reapers destroyed.” He held up a hand to stop her from asking another question. “Before you ask, crew safe. Not here but alive. All except EDI. Crucible destroyed all synthetics. Garrus misses you. Will be here as soon as possible. Could be a while. Mass relays still not working.”

She seemed to accept that answer because she didn’t immediately ask another one. Mordin picked up a glass of water and stuck a straw in it. He held it out for her. “Here.”

Shepard drank some before Mordin pulled it away. She made a small noise in protest when he did.

“Sorry,” Mordin said, “Must take it slow. Have been in coma for weeks.”

Her eyes widened a bit at that. “Weeks?”

“Yes.” Mordin nodded. He noticed the way her eyes threatened to close again. “Rest Shepard. Will be here. Wrex stopping by often as well.”

Shepard closed her eyes. This time though she was just sleeping. Mordin smiled. Now that she’d woken up from the coma, he was certain that she’d be alright.

* * *

When the Normandy landed, Garrus practically ran off the ship to where Mordin was waiting for him. They’d sent word ahead, so he’d known when to expect their arrival.

“Where’s Shepard?” Garrus asked.

That was basically the reaction Mordin had expected. He’d been communicating regularly with Garrus and the rest of the crew since their communications returned, but hearing that Shepard was awake and alert, and actually seeing her were two separate things.

“Come with me,” Mordin said, leading Garrus away from the Normandy and towards the hospital. As they walked, he updated Garrus on her condition. “Shepard doing well. Wants to see you. Told her you are arriving today. Just remember, still needs rest.”

They entered the hospital, and Mordin led the way through it, stopping just outside of Shepard’s room. “In here,” he told Garrus.

Garrus pushed open the door to the room and hurried to Shepard’s side. Mordin watched as Garrus leaned over the bed, giving Shepard a kiss, before he closed the door, giving the couple the privacy that they deserved.

* * *

“I’m going back to Tuchanka,” Wrex told Mordin the next day. “The humans have everything under control here, and Shepard’s going to be fine. Are you still coming with us?”

“Yes.” Mordin nodded. “Told Eve I would return. Visit until child is born. Help where I can.”

“Our ship is leaving tomorrow,” Wrex said.

They said their goodbyes to Shepard together. She was sitting up in bed talking quietly with Garrus. She smiled at them when she saw them.

“We’re leaving for Tuchanka in the morning,” Wrex told her.

Shepard nodded. “I expected that you’d need to go back soon. You should come back and visit sometime though. Bring the baby after they’re born. Or we’ll stop by Tuchanka.”

“Take care of yourself, Shepard,” Mordin told her.

She smiled. “You too, Mordin. Wrex.”

They left the hospital and went to the Normandy to say goodbye to the crew there. The net day they were abroad their ship heading to Tuchanka. Mordin was looking forward to seeing Eve again. He hadn’t intended to be gone for so long when he left to attend Shepard’s party on the Citadel.

* * *

Mordin cradled the krogan baby in his arms, giving her a quick examination, and cleaning her up before wrapping her in a blanket. “Congratulations, Eve. Wrex. Healthy girl.”

He carried the baby over to Eve and carefully placed her daughter in her arms. She smiled as she held her child for the first time, then looked up at Wrex who sat beside the best watching them. “She’s perfect.”

The baby reached up and wrapped her fingers around one of Eve’s. Her eyes were open, taking in her new surroundings.

“Mordin.”

“Yes?” Mordin asked.

“That’s her name,” Eve said, smiling at him. “Urdnot Mordin.”

“We discussed it,” Wrex added, “I told her only if the baby was a girl.”

“Am honored,” Mordin said.

“If it wasn’t for you, she never would have been born,” Eve said. “I want her to have your name to always remember you by. You will always a be a friend to the krogan, Mordin.”

Only a few years ago, Mordin never would have imagined this future. Much had changed in just a short time. Now with the genophage cured and the Reapers defeated they could all look to the future. And the future, Mordin reflected as he watched Eve, Wrex, and the baby named after him, looked very bright indeed.


End file.
